68 MARSH HAWK— HARRIER— BLUE HAWK. 



neighborhood of Toronto, informed me that he had never seen 

 a single individual in the blue plumage. The late Mr. Wm. 

 Hunter, who had collected both around Hamilton and Montreal, 

 had only taken one or two specimens. Mr. Mcllwraith, also of 

 Hamilton, by letter informs me that the Blue Hawks are ex- 

 tremely rare, perhaps occurring as one in fifty. Mr. Wm. 

 Couper, naturalist, formerly of Quebec now of Montreal, records 

 the same. In my own expeditions between Montreal and the 

 western extremity of Lake Superior I have only twice observed 

 it, and have never been able to secure a specimen. On the other 

 hand a gentleman has recently informed me that bluish Marsh 

 Hawks are abundant to the rear of the island of Montreal, in 

 the vicinity* of Riviere des Prairies ; and Dr. Bernard Gilpin of 

 Halifax, N. .S., states that the Marsh Hawk in all its stages 

 between young and blue adult is common in that Province. 



The same scarcity, however, of blue Marsh Hawks has been 

 recorded by observers throughout the United States. One writer 

 in the American Naturalist cries out, " Where are the pale-blue 

 gray male birds ? We have yet to see the first specimen this 

 year. We have never seen a dozen in so many years. Is this 

 absence of male Harriers as noticeable elsewhere ? Have others 

 called attention to it ? This species (C hitdsonius) nidificates in 

 this State (Mass.), yet even in the neighborhood of the nests we 

 have been unable to find the male bird." So far as I can ascer- 

 tain all the individuals yet obtained in the blue plumage have been 

 males, and should we be disposed to consider these as specifically 

 distinct from our common brown Marsh Hawk, we have next to 

 inquire — What of the females ? Are they likewise blue ; or do 

 they resemble the females of the common species ? The whole 

 question is yet very perplexing, but is not without a parallel in 

 ornithological history. For instance we have already recorded the 

 dark or black variety of the Rough-legged Buzzard (B. lagopiis), 

 which up to as recently — we may say — as yesterday was believed 

 to be a valid species ; while in the Strigida or Owl family we 

 have yet to notice red stages of the Screech Owl (Scops asio) 

 and Acadian Owl (Nyctalc acadica). 



